Downsizers exotic beach tower challenged by ‘surfers’ mob
NEW YORK: Downsizers living aspirations are increasingly being challenged by nimbys determined to head off unfettered boomer ambitions.
Plans for a $300 million beachfront development in Scarborough, including a record 43-storey skyscraper, have been scrapped, in a victory for people power.
Chinese developer 3 Oceans will go back to the drawing board for a fourth time to come up with a new design after conceding the community is concerned about the height and bulk of its proposal.
“We are not arguing with those points … it is not something we are going to pursue,” project director Ian McKee said.
The canned plan was to build three towers — including 370 apartments, a dozen cafes and restaurants, a theatre, an amphitheatre and a co-work office — at the corner of West Coast Highway and Scarborough Beach Road.
The development had featured a 15-level Skater Tower, a 21-floor Surfer Tower and a 43-storey Windsurfer Tower, which would have been the tallest building outside of the CBD and fourth-highest in Perth, if approved.
Mr McKee said new concepts ensuring reduced bulk and scale were being prepared for further consideration by 3 Oceans later this month.
While he would not reveal the new concepts, the media understands one of the options involves only two buildings, instead of three, and a height reduction on the taller building of nearly a dozen floors.
The group must also reconsider how the building would be designed if the State Government proceeds with an idea to sink West Coast Highway.
The development company has also been asked by DevelopmentWA to reveal how it would ensure its proposed arts hub could remain sustainable after it was set up.
Sunsets not Skyscrapers spokesman Kieran Kelly said the decision to scrap the towers was a “partial win” for his group.
“We are not breaking out the champagne yet but we will break out the sparkling water,” he said.
“We need to see the next proposal before we really celebrate.”
Mr Kelly said the group wanted any proposal to abide by the height limit in the area, according to a 2016 master plan, which was only 12 floors.
An extra six floors could be granted as a bonus in return for design excellence.
Mr Kelly said he would be relieved in June when development approval for the first set of twin towers was due to lapse.
He said the community was concerned it would be adopted by the developers.
It will be the fourth time back to the drawing board for developers, after scrapping two versions of the $450m twin towers, which at one stage included 43 and 38-floor towers.
The developer revised the plans in 2018, reducing one tower to a 33-level height, and then dropped the project altogether in 2019 when apartment prices tanked, claiming it was no longer financially viable.